S C A T E   Study Circles: A Tool for Empowerment
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A I M S/ O B J E C T I V E S

The methods of education identifies by SCATE (Study circles, Time banks, Trees of knowledge and Reseaux d'Exchange des savoirs) are ideal for those areas (rural areas, large urban suburbs) whose geographic characteristics hinder access to formal education schemes, which are largely provided in urban contexts.

The way study circles are organized and managed is well-known and a number of study circle projects have already been implemented in various countries; the same can be said for time banks and trees of knowledge.

What needed to be studied, tested and analyzed in order to identify and promote good practices and specific protocols, were the actions to integrate the three solutions into a single path, then support and promote them also as activators of local and transnational networks of individuals interested in the dissemination of good practices regarding this integrated systems.

This, hopefully, fostered the dissemination of innovative forms of financing for adult education and stimulated the demand for education in a population that is generally reluctant to develop lifelong learning strategies. The project had three main goals:
  1. developing pathways facilitating the creation of "Study circles". Specifically, the project studied and test suitable ways of assistance with respect to: a) the definition of the educational project, b) the identification of teaching materials in contexts which guarantee the overall quality of the education action, c) the enhancement and the dissemination of group education/study projects and their outputs encouraging the exchange of acquired knowledge (through the model of the '"trees of knowledge" and the forms of barter typically used by time banks), d) the development of educational pathways supported by distance learning tools and by the use of trees of knowledge, which were applied to the small communities represented by the study circles;


  2. tailoring the methods and the tools typically used by Time Banks and Reseaux d'Exchange des savoirs,.to favor the dissemination of the knowledge "built" within study circles without requiring any further public financing (or, in any case, at lower costs).


  3. Promoting access to Lifelong Learning Centers or other adult education providers by new user segments using this mix of non-formal methods and targeting lifelong learning.